Bethlehem Schools Asked For Bond Aid * Area Vo-tech Needs At Least $10 Million To Cover Most Critical Repairs.

May 11, 1999|by KATHLEEN PARRISH, The Morning Call

The Bethlehem Area School District is being asked to help fund a bond issue of at least $10 million to repair the 40-year-old Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School.

The roof and air conditioner need work, said vo-tech Director Don Foellner Monday during a Finance Committee meeting.

If the board approves the project, it will shoulder 65 percent of the bond because that's the proportion of Bethlehem students who attend the school. Northampton Area School District students make up 24 percent of enrollment and 11 percent come from Saucon Valley.

Bethlehem Business Manager Stanley Majewski recommended the $10 million proposal, rather than the $20 million one, because it doesn't have the support of Saucon Valley officials. The project needs the endorsement of two of the three school districts.

"Interest rates are low," Majewski said. "If you're going to finance this project, now would be a very good time."

Majewski did not comment on Northampton's reaction to the plan, but Bethlehem school directors appeared to be in favor of it.

"Everyone on this board knows how important the vo-tech is," said School Director Julie Venanzi.

For Bethlehem school district residents, bond payments would represent an .11-mill hike in the 2001 school year, before climbing to a .23-mill increase over the rest of the 20-year life of the bond.

To the owner of a home assessed at $50,000, a .23-mill increase would mean paying about $11.50 more per year.

School Director Ed Gallagher pointed out if the district borrowed $20 million, the state would reimburse it for 20 percent of the project.

If major repairs are necessary down the line and the project is done in a piecemeal fashion, the district would lose its opportunity for state funding, he said.

After the meeting, Foellner said the school needs $25 million in repairs, but $10 million would cover the most critical problems.

"Initially, we need to look at the highest priorities," he said. "I believe this gives us an opportunity to address those things in most desperate need of repair."

The plan includes reroofing, replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, upgrading the electrical system, and bringing the school up to code.

The district had earmarked $215,454 in next year's budget for the vo-tech, but won't need it if the bond issue passes.

School Director Charlene Koch suggested returning that money to taxpayers, but Superintendent Tom Doluisio said that money is needed elsewhere.

As a result of discussions on school safety in light of the Littleton, Colo., massacre, elementary principals have suggested security cameras at the entrance to their schools, Doluisio said.

The cameras would cost between $80,000 and $100,000, Doluisio said.

"I would encourage you to leave some flexibility in the budget," he said.

School Director William Heske suggested a $2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for calling in a bomb threat at Nitschmann Middle School this month.